That looks like either a Longship or a small Galley. Maybe it could pass for a Trireme, but not a Quinquereme.

The Trireme and Quinquireme are both dedicated warships meant for fleet battles and ramming. They are named for having 3 or 5 rows of oars and oarsmen on each side which allowed for power and maneuverability. A Quinquireme was a massive ship with fore and aft castles and some even capable of mounting Catapults.

It's not clear to me how one would go about depicting this for a 30x30 sprite, though. Also there is some ambiguity in terminology, whether a "Five-Oar" meant 5 rows of oars, or simply 5 men per oar. But generally when the number in front of an "__-reme" gets large, you should imagine something like a floating fortress.

It's a really nice picture though! I like it.

XYZ wrote:emissary (ancient diplomat)

I like it! Simple, distinctive, and to the point.

XYZ wrote:[Abrams-tank]

The shadow on the body beneath the main gun is much darker than any other outlines or details. Lighten that up, and maybe darken some of the shading so that you can see the shape of the body.

XYZ wrote:This time I didnt use a template. Not very good but acceptable I think...

XYZ wrote:[MiG 15]

At a first glance I thought this was a bomber. Sweep its wings back more, color its nose, and spend a few pixels making its nose look hollow.

XYZ wrote:This time I didnt use a template. Not very good but acceptable I think...[Dive-bomber]

Drawing without a template is haaaaaard!It looks pretty flat, consider adding shading. The perspective looks odd with the cockpit viewed from he side and the wings from above. Shif the cockpit to be more centered over the fuselage and it should look fine.What aircraft is it based off of? IL2? Regardless of the inspiration, the graphic serves its purpose: Nobody will mistake it for anything but a "Dive Bomber".

XYZ wrote:What about this one? [chinook]

Nice work there. When graphics are this small, I'd recommend using brighter colors so that the body can stand out from the outline. That also gives you more room to maneuver color-wise when using shading to bring out its contours to make it "pop". In my pixel art, I generally use 3 colors: Base color, base color with 50% black to round the edges, and base color with 50% white to make features pop.

XYZ wrote:Dromedarii

Those are good! Unmistakably camel-riders. Add a few pixels of shade to suggests the folds of his robe, and maybe make the head a little bigger.The green, although not bright, shows up enough that you can see "ah, a green saddle cloth" without making the whole beast green.The rider's leg seems to disappear on the blue camel, and I'm not sure why. As a result, I like the green camel better.

XYZ wrote:Gunship (Alouette III)

Definitely a helicopter. Gunship? Not so much.It's missing a few pixels in the rear of the fuselage making it look more bulbous than the pictures of the Alouette III I've been able to find. The front propeller blade also looks a bit weird being attached only by a corner pixel.I like the windows though, the blue on brown contrast.

For a gunship though, I'd want a beefier looking helicopter. That thing would never frighten a tank.

XYZ wrote:Last unit for today: Stormtrooper.

The Stormtrooper looks like he's ready to jump out of an airplane, which I think is NOT the look you were going for. I guess he's supposed to be lobbing a grenade?Is he wearing a backpack or a very fancy scarf? The "scarf" plus that helmet make me want to think he's an Aviator, but the rifle on his back says otherwise.As he stands though, he's looking pretty flat. Some contour shading would do him good.I'd suggest a more dynamic pose, like him ducking while running or something. Make him look like he's about to storm a trench. Easier said than done, of course.

XYZ wrote:Are they ok from a technical or artistic perspective? A little hint would be very much appreciated...

I saw how empty this thread was, and sought to rectify this! I have given you what constructive criticism I could think of. Keep up the good work. It is easier to critique than create. You've made a lot more units than I have!

What program are you using to do your editing? I generally use Paint.NET, since I like its user interface. It's a good medium between the ease of access of MS Paint, and the rich but daunting features of GIMP or Photoshop.

That looks like either a Longship or a small Galley. Maybe it could pass for a Trireme, but not a Quinquereme.

The Trireme and Quinquireme are both dedicated warships meant for fleet battles and ramming. They are named for having 3 or 5 rows of oars and oarsmen on each side which allowed for power and maneuverability. A Quinquireme was a massive ship with fore and aft castles and some even capable of mounting Catapults.

It's not clear to me how one would go about depicting this for a 30x30 sprite, though. Also there is some ambiguity in terminology, whether a "Five-Oar" meant 5 rows of oars, or simply 5 men per oar. But generally when the number in front of an "__-reme" gets large, you should imagine something like a floating fortress.

Thanks, I took the worker as a template and turned him around. The inspiration was the Amplio emissary (see link of the quinquireme).

The shadow on the body beneath the main gun is much darker than any other outlines or details. Lighten that up, and maybe darken some of the shading so that you can see the shape of the body.

Yeah, that was messy rush work. I wanted to complete all 3 rows and simply wanted to finish it. I will do a new one probably.

At a first glance I thought this was a bomber. Sweep its wings back more, color its nose, and spend a few pixels making its nose look hollow.

Thought something like that. Will follow. Easier now with clear and precise instructions.

Drawing without a template is haaaaaard!It looks pretty flat, consider adding shading. The perspective looks odd with the cockpit viewed from he side and the wings from above. Shif the cockpit to be more centered over the fuselage and it should look fine.What aircraft is it based off of? IL2? Regardless of the inspiration, the graphic serves its purpose: Nobody will mistake it for anything but a "Dive Bomber".

Good points. At one point I kept changing but didnt come any further so I left it there. Maybe I will also take a new swing at it if I have extra time. Inspiration was a Stuka and the Amplio fighter but it never looked like a Stuka when I looked at it. But yeah, it looks like a IL2!

Nice work there. When graphics are this small, I'd recommend using brighter colors so that the body can stand out from the outline. That also gives you more room to maneuver color-wise when using shading to bring out its contours to make it "pop". In my pixel art, I generally use 3 colors: Base color, base color with 50% black to round the edges, and base color with 50% white to make features pop.

That should be quickly done. Thanks for the advise.

Those are good! Unmistakably camel-riders. Add a few pixels of shade to suggests the folds of his robe, and maybe make the head a little bigger.The green, although not bright, shows up enough that you can see "ah, a green saddle cloth" without making the whole beast green.The rider's leg seems to disappear on the blue camel, and I'm not sure why. As a result, I like the green camel better.

I cant take the credit here. Its the camel from the caravan, turned 180° and made smaller by zoom. Soldier on it is so small that every pixel I add is disproportional big.

Definitely a helicopter. Gunship? Not so much.It's missing a few pixels in the rear of the fuselage making it look more bulbous than the pictures of the Alouette III I've been able to find. The front propeller blade also looks a bit weird being attached only by a corner pixel.I like the windows though, the blue on brown contrast.For a gunship though, I'd want a beefier looking helicopter. That thing would never frighten a tank.

Haha, it was never intended to be a tank killer. The inspiration was were the Alouette III from the Rhodesian Bush war. More a weapon against infantry. Therefore also the camouflage. But with the long tail boom space got cramped! Also the perspective made it difficult to crame in a machine gun. But I will fix the pixel hopefully!

The Stormtrooper looks like he's ready to jump out of an airplane, which I think is NOT the look you were going for. I guess he's supposed to be lobbing a grenade?Is he wearing a backpack or a very fancy scarf? The "scarf" plus that helmet make me want to think he's an Aviator, but the rifle on his back says otherwise.As he stands though, he's looking pretty flat. Some contour shading would do him good.I'd suggest a more dynamic pose, like him ducking while running or something. Make him look like he's about to storm a trench. Easier said than done, of course.

The white bag is the backpack you can see them wearing sometimes on a few pictures. Searchresults are obstructed by Star Wars...Thought it looked cooler but they usually went with lighter weight into battle so I might change it. Yes, its a stick granade. Must have for a stormtrooper but if with the big pixel any pixel I add makes it too big...Haha, yes upper body and legs speak other languages...

Again, many thanks for the comments!

Im using paint.net. Getting better now! I didnt use shadows in the beginning and was mostly modifyiing stuff... But its not that hard if you keep it simple, learn a few tricks and accept that not every pic can look as good as you intended. Its after all pixel art..Anyhow, I challenge everybody to make counter units!

What I usually do to add shading is I create a new layer above the main sprite, set it's transparency to 127 (or lower if need be), and then color in with black white or gray. This way you can erase your shading work without ruining the original base graphic.

Samurai: Looks...ok. The stance makes it hard to see what it is, or what distinguishes it from other units, and the Flag it's carrying could be confused with a red sword.

Arbalest:Nice! I really like this guy! Give him some shading and you have a winner here. Is it based off of an image or template? Not to disparage your art skills, but it's certainly a cut above the rest.

Trebuchet:Unmistakably a Trebuchet. It looks like it belongs on a cardboard token. The side view is much simpler to draw with, but it seems too two-dimensional.

Battering-ram:The oblique projection it's drawn from looks a bit odd, but it's also unmistakably a battering ram. The interior looks a little too light, but if you darken it you'll need to make the Ram a brighter color for contrast. Elevate it's right wheels (the ones on the left side of the image) a pixel or two and it will look more like a trimetric projection with less distortion. A lot of other ram designs I've seen have less sloped roofs, but this is a perfectly valid A-Frame design.

Siege-tower:Distinctively a Siege Tower. The side view makes it look flat, but it has enough body to it it could probably look ok on the map. Trying to draw it from a perspective view would be more challenging, but could look cool. But for something so tall that's designed to go right up to a wall, a side-view works pretty well.

Snake2:Definitely a snake! ...A cobra? Are cobras yellow? Does it have striping or are my eyes playing tricks? I'd consult some reference photos to get an idea of the proper coloration and markings for a cobra. Maybe add some shading too to make it look less flat. The bends of the tail shrinking off into the distance gives it a nice sense of perspective. I like that.

Hetzer (tank destroyer): It looks short and stubby and very flat. The short and stubby is correct for the vehicle, though. The flatness is the main problem. Use shading to show the sloped armor and the gun's protrusion. I understand there aren't a lot of pixels to work with, though.

Were you trying to make a graphic for a Tank Destroyer specifically, or just adding to a collection of Armored Vehicles? I've always thought the M3 Stuart had a nice distinctive profile.

Yeah, I need to learn how to do shadows... Guess Im too lazy learning new things but I will try next using your suggestions and beef up the old grafics. Feel free to shadow one (or more) of the grafics. Easier to understand than written explanations.

Same what I thought. The 2D grafics are acceptable but not good. I get lazy and prefer quantity over quality but that really doesnt make happy.

Snake: Hehe, dont know. Typed in pixel art snake and found one that is unmistakenly a snake. Originally I made it green but all png's look different once I upload them so I changed the colours ad hock. It has a ladder striping! Anyhow, made it in record time before going to be bed when I realised how easy you can create them by simply looking at other pixel art. But I always draw them myself and alter them enough so that they are unmistakenly my product. Anyhow, Im not copy-pasting pixels.

Hetzer: It was done in a few minutes, more as a proof of concept. Will draw a new one for sure and from another better perspective to use depth but that also takes time...He is part of my list http://forum.freeciv.org/f/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=90253I choose him because he looks so distinctively without a turret and therefore is a good representative for a tank destroyer. All tracked vehicles can look similar once you add them a turret. GriffonSpade made a Hetzer-like tank for Amplio together with some other cool sprides Im counting on to have all 3 grafics complete: http://forum.freeciv.org/f/download/file.php?id=619 (png file unit 2)

Creating Blender files, taking screenshots and alter the size might also be an alternative. It saves time and spares me the difficulty of getting the right angle when creating units. Need though to change, colour and adjust the size since the 30x30 format stretches the unit.